Rhus Toxicodendron

The Homeopathic Remedy Rhus Toxicodendron, is the No. 1 remedy for sprains and strains, joint stiffness & pain, inflammations, rashes, hives and urticaria. It is also used primarily as a remedy for skin and joint disorders.

It can help musculoskeletal problems including rheumatic or arthritic pain, sciatica, restless legs, cramps, sprains and strains. Rhus tox earned the title “Rusty Gate Remedy” by relieving joint and back pains that hurt on initial movement but improve after limbering up– just like an old gate that squeaks at first but quiets down after a bit. Also like the rusty gate, these joints do not like cold damp weather– they can be great storm predictors.

It applies best when symptoms improve with heat and worsen at night and in damp cold weather.

Rhus Tox is commonly used for:

Skin Conditions:

Rhus tox is used to treat skin conditions such as chicken pox, shingles, herpes, eczema, rosacea and diaper rash. It has a special affinity for easing a variety of inflammations including blistering itchy rashes, hives, eye inflammations, cold sores, raw sore throats and colds.

Stiff Joins & Pain:

Stiff joints, backs and sciatic pains which need gentle motion can depend on this classic remedy’s safe healing benefits. Pain is usually around joints which ache, feel sore and bruised. The pain gets worse on first moving with a tearing, stitching sensation, but this eases after continued movement provided it is not too strenuous.

Where to buy Rhus Tox

Rhus Tox’s Personality Profile:

The type of person that fits the profile for this homeopathic remedy tends to be highly irritable. Though the bouts may pass, they tend to suffer through depression on a fairly regular basis. In extreme cases, they may cry for no reason at all and may even have the occasional or even frequent suicidal thought. They tend to lack much pleasure in life, particularly when it comes to sensual pleasure. They are highly sensitive to a change in climate and suffer with the cold over anything else.

Rhus Tox’s Materia Medica:

Mind: Listless, sad. Thoughts of suicide. Extreme restlessness, with continued change of position. Delirium, with fear of being poisoned (Hyos). Sensorium becomes cloudy. Great apprehension at night, cannot remain in bed.

Head: Feels as if a board were strapped on the forehead. Vertigo when rising. Heavy head. Brain feels loose and as if struck against skull on walking or rising. Scalp sensitive; worse on side lain on. Headache in occiput (Rhus rad); painful to touch. Pain in forehead and proceeds thence backward. Humid eruptions on scalp; itching greatly.

Stomach: Want of appetite for any kind of food, with unquenchable thirst. Bitter taste (Cupr). Nausea, vertigo, and bloated abdomen after eating. Desire for milk. Great thirst, with dry mouth and throat. Pressure as from a stone. (Bry; Ars) Drowsy after eating.

Abdomen: Violent pains, relieved by lying on abdomen. Swelling of inguinal glands. Pain in region of ascending colon. Colic, compelling to walk bent. Excessive distention after eating. Rumbling of flatus on first rising, but disappears with continued motion.

Rectum: Diarrhœa of blood, slime, and reddish mucus. Dysentery, with tearing pains down thighs. Stools of cadaverous odor. Frothy, painless stools. Will often abort a beginning suppurative process near the rectum. Dysentery.

Respiratory: Tickling behind upper sternum. Dry, teasing cough from midnight until morning, during a chill, or when putting hands out of bed. Hæmoptysis from overexertion; blood bright red. Influenza, with aching in all bones (Eup perf). Hoarseness from overtraining voice (Arn). Oppression of the chest, cannot get breath with sticking pains. Bronchial coughs in old people, worse on awaking and with expectoration of small plugs of mucus.

Heart: Hypertrophy from overexertion. Pulse quick, weak, irregular, intermittent, with numbness of left arm. Trembling and palpitation when sitting still.

Back: Pain between shoulders on swallowing. Pain and stiffness in small of back; better, motion, or lying on something hard; worse, while sitting. Stiffness of the nape of the neck.

Extremities: Hot, painful swelling of joints. Pains tearing in tendons, ligaments, and fasciæ. Rheumatic pains spread over a large surface at nape of neck, loins, and extremities; better motion (Agaric). Soreness of condyles of bones. Limbs stiff paralyzed. The cold fresh air is not tolerated; it makes the skin painful. Pain along ulnar nerve. Tearing down thighs. Sciatica; worse, cold, damp weather, at night. Numbness and formication, after overwork and exposure. Paralysis; trembling after exertion. Tenderness about knee-joint. Loss of power in forearm and fingers; crawling sensation in the tips of fingers. Tingling in feet.

Fever: Adynamic; restless, trembling. Typhoid; tongue dry and brown; sordes; bowels loose; great restlessness. Intermittent; chill, with dry cough and restlessness. During heat, urticaria. Hydroa. Chilly, as if cold water were poured over him, followed by heat and inclination to stretch the limbs.

Sleep: Dreams of great exertion. Heavy sleep, as from stupor. Sleepless before midnight.

Modalities: Worse, during sleep, cold, wet rainy weather and after rain; at night, during rest, drenching, when lying on back or right side. Better, warm, dry weather, motion; walking, change of position, rubbing, warm applications, from stretching out limbs.

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Please Note: Professional homeopaths do not generally prescribe remedies to treat symptoms individually, as the symptoms are considered to be only the outward sign that your vital force is struggling to overcome disease. Instead a remedy is prescribed for the whole person. Accurate prescribing is essential to the success of homeopathy. The content provided within HomeopathicRemediesBlog.com is for educational purposes only and should not be used to prescribe, diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or illness. HomeopathicRemediesBlog.com does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of the remedies listed. Always consult with your doctor or medical professional with any questions you have regarding health concerns.